K-pop fans are going analogue, wanting to own physical versions of their music: critics
Vinyl records are gaining ground in Korea’s music market, with sales in the first half of 2026 already surpassing last year’s full-year total.
According to Circle Chart, 937,173 vinyl records were sold in South Korea from January through June. That is about 1.7 times the total recorded for all of 2025. The figures cover domestically produced vinyl records.
Vinyl record sales have risen steadily in recent years, from 424,073 in 2023 to 471,781 in 2024 and 548,977 in 2025.
This reflects a similar pattern in the US, where BTS sold 208,000 copies of its album "Arirang" during the first week of its release in March.
The sharp increase appears to coincide with a growing number of K-pop artists releasing albums on vinyl, including BTS.
Other K-pop acts, including Ateez, Enhypen, Aespa, Twice and TXT's Yeonjun, released vinyl records this year, while Nmixx and Blackpink's Lisa are scheduled to do the same later in the year.
Rob Jonas, CEO of Luminate, a US-based entertainment data company, credited K-pop for the growth of both CD and vinyl sales, even though "approximately half of Gen Z and Millennial CD buyers do not actually own a CD player."
K-pop is not the only factor driving up sales.
Kim Young-hwan, 32, owner of Vinyl Inside record cafe in Seoul, says customers enjoy a wide range of albums.
"Couples, friends and families come to our cafe to relax and enjoy the records," Kim said. "They listen to Korean indie songs, pop songs and music that brings out nostalgia."
For listeners, the experience of a physical record is part of the appeal. The static sound of the needle and the few seconds of anticipation before a song begins offer an alternative to digital streaming.
Kim said he curates the cafe's record collection based not only on his own taste but also on customer recommendations, producing a wide selection of music from modern artists like BTS, Taeyeon and Cortis to earlier artists such as Lee Moon-sae and Lee So-ra.
Pop culture critic Jung Duk-hyun said the growing popularity of physical music, especially vinyl records, reflects fans' desire for unique experiences they hope to own.
Unlike digital copies of music that can be accessed instantly, physical records give fans a tangible way to engage with their favorite K-pop groups, Jung said.
"It's similar to why fans want to hear live music at concerts," he said. "The music sounds different when listening to physical albums."
That desire is an extension of the younger generation's search for analogue nostalgia. They enjoy walking to a store to buy an album and putting the record on the turntable.
"Fans want to (physically) own the music," Jung said. "Vinyl records are the unique merchandise they are looking for."
Despite the sales increase, vinyl remains a relatively small part of K-pop's physical album releases in terms of variants.
Variants are defined by unique universal product codes per album that vary based on different colors, formats and deluxe editions. For K-pop groups, for example, albums are released with various editions for a group and then for individual members as well.
According to a case study by Luminate with Hybe America, the top 10 physical albums by K-pop artists were released with an average of 23.6 CD variants, while only an average of 2.6 variants of vinyl were made. In the US, on the other hand, the top 10 physical albums averaged 9.5 CD variants and 9.6 vinyl variants.
The figure suggests that vinyl could serve as a new way for K-pop artists to reach more of the Western music market.
"We examined vinyl trends and cross-examined it with other music consumption habits," Issac Lee, CEO of Hybe America, said in the report. "With the data, my team was able to extrapolate insights to inform how we should approach physical formats," he added,
This approach comes as physical sales continue to be a major force behind high chart rankings. Thus, tapping into vinyl could provide artists with a better chance to enter international charts.
In March, Billboard reported that BTS' "Arirang" album opened at the top on the Billboard 200 with 641,000 equivalent album units. Among these, vinyl accounted for 208,000.
mjcha@heraldcorp.com
